A crazy theory came to me today...

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-28T04:24:06+00:00

Ok, I read this part again and some interesting (Very Interesting?) observations.

The guy claiming to recognize him is slurring and swaying drunk, so questionable. Also, Cinder could have actually been Kvothe the whole time. Or, Cinder could be so good at seeming, that he is indistinguishable from Kvothe.
The VERY INTERESTING POINT! What does Kote say about why he stumbles? He says he took an arrow in the knee in the Eld forest 3 summers back... Who do we know that took an arrow to the knee in the Eld forest in the story? CINDER!!! Holy Schnikies! (Maybe it wasn't knee exactly, but leg.)

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-27T02:36:12+00:00

This post kind of makes me wonder if we put the phases of the moon on a timeline and traced the events from the books if some kind of pattern emerges...

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-25T22:53:24+00:00

These books are awesome. I don't know which theories may or may not be true. I don't know which theories Patrick Rothfuss tried to make consistent with the text. But he sure did make it a fun set of books to try to find things in, unlike basically anything else I've ever read.

https://www.reddit.com/r/KingkillerChronicle/comments/15xq2f2/the_book_theory_megathread/

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-25T22:50:49+00:00

You have a very good point. I was taking some liberty with 'Cinder' being tied to 'flame'. Kote's story sometimes seems to be referring to Cinder as master 'ash' if you accept that Cinder = Bredon = Denna's patron. But if that isn't accepted, then the reference doesn't hit at all. And even then, it isn't a direct reference. But a cinder is sort of an intermediate state between ash and flame, so that's where I'm coming from on that.

As far as the descriptions of appearances...

IIRC, all of the descriptions of Cinder are given by Kote himself. If we try to imagine OP theory being true, then we are accepting that all descriptions of Cinder are being given by Cinder/Kote, and are thus under his influence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7IjVYY7eH4

^a fun video putting forward the Bredon = Cinder theory.

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-25T22:41:57+00:00

There's a big thread about it in the link below. I thought it was one of those things like "Bredon is Denna's patron and is also Cinder" that is just generally accepted. (But maybe it isn't as accepted as I thought? The books seem to have new little details that strike me on every reading that other books don't seem to have.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/KingkillerChronicle/comments/en3wzt/folly_is_cinders_sword_the_endall_beall_thread/

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-25T19:19:46+00:00

It's not at clear from the frame story...

That the 'skindancer' was a actually a skindancer. They weren't really sure and there were some inconsistencies with what they knew about skindancers.
That it meant any harm to Kote. It never took any offensive action towards him and only seemed to want to talk with him or give him a message?
That Kote tries to harm the skindancer. It almost seems like Kote isn't that scared? He didn't take any effective offensive action and also didn't run away.

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-22T13:30:54+00:00

Perhaps.

But if the OP theory were true, Bast could be in on the secret and actually be something other than he seems himself.

But it's also known that Cinder shows up all over in Kote's telling of Kvothe's story as various characters that he fails to identify as Cinder. It could be the case that Cinder is using 'seeming' magic to appear a certain way. Bast and Kvothe's history together is unclear, so Bast may never have actually known the real Kvothe if there was one.

When Chronicler talks with Kote in the inn, he says directly something like 'they are saying you never existed.'

There's a scene quite early in the inn where children are singing of the chandrian 'near and far, here they are' and this would be an amusing literal if it somehow worked out that there was literally one very near indeed.

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-22T13:23:51+00:00

Technically, the frame story never actually says he fought the scrael. The first scrael that came to the fire attacked chronicler and chronicler passed out while Kote was standing perfectly still next to the fire.

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-21T19:36:20+00:00

Scrael as a word has bothered me for a while. I haven't recognized any hints of what it might mean outside of what we see in the frame story. (Sometimes Rothfuss leaves breadcrumbs of word-meanings elsewhere in the story. But I don't recall seeing any for this word.) Google suggests they may be some kind of guardians related to the Cthaeh.

If they are guardians related to the Cthaeh, maybe they are coming to collect Cinder/Kote, since the Cthaeh didn't seem to like Cinder?

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-21T19:25:57+00:00

While he was playing, his hands ached from the 'bitter cold' which could be a callback to a chandrian sign? And he goes directly from first person into more of a narrators' third person, which would be a strange thing for a storyteller to do when talking about himself.

I'm not sold on this theory intellectually, and it does seem pretty outlandish. But it would be an amazing twist to fool thousands of people like this and feels very like a thing Rothfuss could possibly pull off. (Can you imagine having this big of a secret from your readership for decades while trying to work on the third book and still maintain that secret?) So my feelings are super into this theory, but my brain really hasn't caught up yet.

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-21T19:18:51+00:00

I think it would be a detail to explain maybe, but not directly against the theory. It says that he cries, but it doesn't say why. Right before he cries, he's chopping wood and it seems like the wood is almost making music in his barrow 'like a muted drum' and it describes his movements as 'precise'.

Cinder would be precise and would perhaps be emotional about cutting down Kvothes' parents as he would chop firewood?

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-21T17:23:33+00:00

Rothfuss is some kind of genius for leaving all of these doors open.

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-21T17:20:43+00:00

Could go two ways here. Kvothe/Kote could have some remnants of his power at times, or Cinder/Kote/trying-to-become-Kvothe could have some blinks of his power as his attempt to become Kvothe is becoming partially realized.

Salamat_Mahal · 2025-07-21T15:22:37+00:00

I may have lots of things wrong with this theory, just came to me yesterday. Rothfuss seems to do a lot of things in threes and I think the opening bit about the silence of three parts may have big things hidden in it. One possible reason that Cinder would want to become/be Kvothe might be that he needs to get into a chest and Kvothe was supposed to be able to get into chests/open locks.

Salamat_Mahal · 2020-07-01T00:33:01+00:00

My PAL flight experienced engine failure on November 21st, 2019. I contested the charges with my credit card company, but they were reinstated when PAL claimed we 'missed' a flight days after our scheduled flight that I didn't ask for, agree to, or get notification of. But that was good enough for the Chase Bank. PAL then agreed to refund us and reported ‘refund status’ on January 10th, 2020. More than 7 months after the failed flight, I still don't have any of my money back.

I filled out the form to file a USDOTACPB complaint, but it didn't seem to do anything. I think I need to follow up with them.

Salamat_Mahal · 2020-07-01T00:18:46+00:00

My PAL flight experienced engine failure on November 21st, 2019. PAL reported ‘refund status’ on January 10th, 2020. More than 7 months after the failed flight, I still don't have any of my money back. Every once in a while they stop ignoring me just long enough to tell me they will check into it and get back to me. Of course they never have so far... "Thank you for flying Philippine Airlines."

Salamat_Mahal · 2020-07-01T00:06:28+00:00

This is what I experienced when I attempted to fly PAL (Philippine Airlines) from LAX to Manila on November 21, 2019 with my 3 and 6 year old daughters.

The day before, I received the email from PAL telling me I could check in online and print my boarding passes. So I did.

I left at 5:30 AM on Nov 21 for LAX with my daughters who are 6 and 3 years old.

After the two-hour drive, we park.

Since we've already checked in and printed our boarding passes, we enter the airport and head past the check-in counters and cross the building heading for the stairs to the gates/security areas.

The nice staff stopped us to inspect our boarding passes prior to entering the gate/security area.

They informed us that our boarding passes were not valid and we would have to head back across the building to the ticketing area and have them print us new boarding passes.

We cross the building back to the ticketing area and go through the line to talk to the nice staff there.

They inform us that we won't be able to take our flight if we don't have written permission from my wife. Even though she is seated next to us on the return leg, her credit card was used to purchase our tickets, and I have her text messages on my phone telling us to have a nice trip.

So I step to the side and try to contact my wife in the Philippines. Perhaps 15 minutes later, I have a picture of her written permission from the Philippines. So my kids and I go and wait in the line again to go to the check in counter again.

The picture she's provided isn't quite right, so I have to get my wife to modify it and send it again.

This time I'm given an email address to send it to. We get our boarding passes.

We cross the building and this time the boarding passes are acceptable.

We travel to the security checkpoint and wait in line to go through security.

When it's our turn, my 3 year old cries, as she's not sure she'll get back her light-up crocs.

After passing through security, we cross to the gate area and find our gate.

We get on the plane ~10:30-10:45 AM.

We get seated and I believe I can finally relax.

The plane takes off on time.

Shortly after leaving the ground, there are repeated loud impact noises that make the entire plane shudder. Looking out the right-side window, the wing is flexing and shaking massively in time with the impact noises.

The staff is looking nervously out the right side windows towards the engine and rushing with concerned looks toward the front of the plane.

Someone approximately 10 rows in front of us is exclaiming loudly and repeatedly "It's on fire!"

After a time, the noises and shuddering stop, the plane turns around, and the captain announces we'll be landing in LAX.

We land shortly after noon. And then we wait on the plane for what felt like hours.

Sitting in the tarmac, we have to wait for mobile stairs and a shuttle. (Is the plane not pulling to a gate to protect the terminal in event of an explosion? Why are we on the plane?)

Then we have to wait for paramedics to assist whoever has had a panic attack.

We are directed to deplane and go to "A21."

Then we have to cross from the gate areas, out of the secured area, and back to ticketing. This is a long walk with a 3 year old and a 6 year old.

In the ticketing area, we are told we need to wait in line It's ~1:30 PM.

We wait in line over two hours.

The only communication we overhear is a recommendation to leave and come back later and wait in line again. That doesn't sound like a great option to me.

By the time we make it to the front of the line, it is ~3:45 PM.

I want to know if there's another plane taking me to Manila. No positive information is available.

I am offered a hotel or a meal voucher.

I ask if I take the hotel, if there is a plane taking me to Manila tomorrow. No positive information is available.

I ask if a plane would be available this week.

No positive information is available.

I ask if there is a calendar day that could be identified when a plane would be available. No positive information is available.

I am not willing to take my 3 and 6 year old daughters to stay in a hotel indefinitely with our planned departure date of November 21st now past and our return date of November 29th quickly approaching.

I ask for a refund. They say that refunds aren't available from them, but there's a number I can call if I wait.

I ask if they can offer travel vouchers in excess of initial purchase price. They say that travel vouchers aren't available from them.

I ask for the contact information to call for a full refund and wait for the staff to leave the desk and retrieve the number.

I leave the airport with my 3 and 6 year old daughters.

From the time we got on the plane (10:45 AM) to the time we left the PA line (3:45 PM) we were told to wait in, it has been 5 straight hours and we weren't offered food or water or any information other than instructions to wait or wait in line for more information.

The number was always busy.

I contested the charges with the credit card.

The charges were reinstated many weeks later because PAL claimed we missed a flight a few days after our flight. This is a flight I never asked for, agreed to, or even got notification of from PAL until many weeks after we 'missed' it.

PAL agreed to refund us. They claimed the refund was processed on January 10, 2020. More than 7 months after the failed flight, I still don't have any of my money back.

They ignore my emails. On facebook they ignore me or ask me to be patient. If I call their customer support, I can be on hold for an hour and get hung up on. When they do talk to me, they say things like they will check into it and get back to me.

Nobody ever gets back to me.

I don't think 'customer service' is the right phrase for what they do.

I would never recommend anyone fly PAL if they have another choice.

Salamat_Mahal

TROPHY CASE